Jan 22, 2008

Vinyl Artist Profile - Robert Hardgrave

This is the seventh of ten artist profiles we're presenting as we lead up to our Vinyl Artist Poll
in which we'll ask you to vote for the artist you'd most like to see
work in vinyl. The poll is strictly for fun and to get a read on what
you like art wise. Click on each of the paintings to read a description of the piece by the artist.

“A self-developed artist,
Robert Hardgrave creates work both highly intricate and abundant with
personal symbols. Inspired by experiences from disease and recovery,
his paintings and drawings reflect ideas of reincarnation and the richness
of life beyond death.”

[Most ‘art vinyl’ is character-driven
– some are cute and some are horrific, but almost all feature characters
of some kind. We have included
‘Farmer Bob’ Hardgrave in this poll, not only because we appreciate his work, but because it seems that a greater acceptance of abstraction could lead to captivating new toy designs not dependent on the strength of the character design.
Some beautiful existing vinyl is virtually abstract [think of RealXHead’s
Chaos and Organ Bat figures, or Yamanaya’s Brume sculpt]. We
think Farmer Bob’s work might lend itself to more, and in any event,
we wanted to offer at least one abstract option for the poll.]